Two Fife housing associations are working in partnership to deliver much needed new affordable homes for older and disabled people in Methil.
Twenty-three homes will be developed and built by Kingdom Housing Association and will then be transferred into the ownership of Glen Housing Association which will have responsibility for their allocation, management and maintenance.
A large number of the new homes are being developed to meet particular needs, with 16 one and two-bedroom amenity and two two-bedroom properties designed to full wheelchair standard. The remaining five houses will provide one, two and three bedroom general needs homes.
Anne Dickie, Director with Glen Housing Association, said:
“Almost 80% of the properties are designed to meet the needs of older people or people who require wheelchair accessible housing and this is reflective of the needs in the area, where there is a shortage of specially designed homes.”
The £2.7 million project is partly funded by the Scottish Government, which provided £1.8 million in grant subsidy, and is being developed by Kingdom as part of the Fife Alliance Collaborative Working arrangement.
Ms Dickie continued:
“Glen is a relatively small housing association and, whilst we have the capacity to raise private funding for new projects, we do not employ our own development staff.
“The arrangement we have with Kingdom has worked very well for many years and meets our mutual objectives to help address housing needs in the area.”
The project is being provided for Kingdom at Methil Brae, Methil, Fife by Robertson Partnership Homes as part of a larger development and has been designed by Sinclair Watt Architects. Work started on site in June this year, and the first phase of completions are programmed for completion before the end of April.
Bill Banks, Kingdom’s Chief Executive, said:
“The Methil project is another successful example of how housing associations can work collaboratively to meet the housing needs in their areas of operation.
“The 50,000 target for new affordable homes set by the Scottish Government will be challenging, however if housing associations pool resources and work together in partnership, we should be able to make a significant contribution to achieving the aims of the programme.”
